We have endured seemingly endless changes to our professional lives this year, and not to be overlooked are the many new opportunities for territory sales reps to work remotely from locations outside their originally assigned geographic area of focus. From a Jobseeker standpoint, employers that were formerly opposed to remote workers have all but given up on their “office hour” requirements for sales team members and will now allow them to work from wherever they want. Additionally, many employers have come to the realization that their remote sales team members can successfully sell to any region from any location which has caused a huge shift in job descriptions.
People are relocating across the country, moving out of big cities: Nearly 70% of workers were doing their jobs from home as over 15 million Americans moved by mid-October of this year. 1
What does this mean to those seeking new opportunities in sales?
Sales executives typically must sign a noncompete agreement that prevents them from leaving a job and going to work in a similar capacity for a competitor, however most of those agreements only apply if the person is living and/or working in a particular geographic area. Many Legal Tech sales professionals have a hard time accepting a new position in their field without relocating which used to force them to sell in a new area where they did not have an existing network, causing them to have to start a new client base from scratch. This Covid-induced shift to relocating outside of big cities and doing remote work has created a unique opportunity for a massive shakeup in sales organizations.
Examples of candidates we have seen work around their noncompete agreements:
NYC Depositions Sales Executive: Moved to Long Island from NYC: By moving more than the 30-mile area designated as a “no competition zone” by her noncompete she was able to switch to a new company after the move outside the 30 mile radius yet continue working the same territory in Manhattan from her current work location in Commack. This is a win-win for her and the new employer as she hit the ground running utilizing her existing client base in the city and handles all her meetings on the phone or via Zoom. Her move is permanent, and when people go back to taking personal meetings, she plans to go into the city on an occasional day trip for meetings at home while continuing to work remotely.
Chicago eDiscovery Account Executive: Moved to his family’s “winter home” in Florida to get out of downtown Chicago during the initial lockdown and then decided to stay. Since he is in another state, he has been able to accept a new position with a competing firm while continuing to work the Chicagoland area he knows so well via web meetings and phone calls. Since the expectation is that we won’t go back to constant personal meetings as we did in the past, he plans to travel to Chicago once a month in the future for client meetings while continuing to live in Tampa indefinitely.
Job Opportunities: We have them!!!
A quick web search will show an array of job postings, signaling that many companies are in fact hiring at this time. We have clients seeking sales executives to sell a variety of legal services currently, including eDiscovery, Court Reporting, Forensic Solutions, and Translations/Language Services. Most openings are fully remote, and could be based anywhere in the U.S. We also have several requirements for individuals based in western Europe that could be worked in the U.K., France, or Spain.
If you (or anyone you know) are seeking a new opportunity in legal sales, please email a resume in MS Word format to David@LSCNetwork.com or go to www.LitigationSupportCareers.com to view some of our open jobs.
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Please note this entry is in no way intended to be construed as legal advice, we are not Attorneys. Each company has their own unique noncompete agreements with varying terms, so anyone considering a change should have their own counsel review the actual agreement they signed with their employer.
Sources:
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